Differents
by Cloudwatchers
Summary: They were all different. She could see the dead, he was a genius at 5, he possesed a deamon. They meet and an unlikly friendship is born,and chaos will become unavoidable
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

okay, hello people, heres my story, hope you like, now please read and reviw

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Sakura was different. Her parents worried about her. She would spend hours, seemingly talking to herself. Her parents had her talk to therapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. They all gave her perfect bills of health, absolutely nothing wrong with her except she just liked to talk to herself. She had explained to them that she just figured things out that way. Rather philosophical for someone who was only 7 years old. The children in her age group, however thought she was a freak. More often then not, in the middle of a game she would walk off muttering to herself. Even if people called out to her she would keep walking. Sometimes she would disepear for the rest of the day, others she would appear after only a few minutes. When ever anyone asked her where she had been, she would say "I was helping him/her." whenever they tried to get her to tell them she would just smile. They kept inviting her to play just to see if they could get her to tell them what she was doing. One day she came back, looking very tired. When they asked what she had been doing, she surprised them all with her answer.

"He couldn't find the way so I helped him find it"

"Who?" they asked

"Shione." This made them all stop. Shione had been a favorite ninja amongst all age groups, and he had died recently in a battle with the rain village. The children looked at her strangely. They didn't know how to respond and decided to finish their game, pointedly avoiding Sakura. As time progressed, she would disapaer more and more often, often not showing up at all or returning haggard looking, not something that was healthy for a 7 year old girl. The other kids became afraid of her and started calling her names and running from her. One day, they were going to play ninja war, and people were picking the teams. Names were picked until she was the only one left. It was a ebony eyed boys turn to pick and he glowered at her, not wanting to have to deal with the 'billboard brow freak'. Sakura felt as if she was going to cry. As the kid glared at her, she felt a tug at her subconscious. Following it she left the kids behind. Yells of "were ya goin' freak/billboard brow" were heard, but fell onto deaf ears. The ebony eyed kid gave an inaudible sigh of relief. Now they didn't have to worry about her stopping in the middle of a chase and wandering off, like she had done many times before. She continued on her way completely ignoring them.

"The teams are going to be uneven now" said a rather lazy brown haired boy.

"What do you care, Shikamaru? Now your guy's team has more and were okay with that so stop complaining just to complain."

Shikamaru sighed something along the lines of "How troublesome."

After about five minutes into the game Shikamaru declared that he quit and walked off. No one really missed him, he never actually tried and was always the first one caught unless Choji was playing or when Sakura was off in a trance. Shikamaru went to the roof were he would watch the clouds with Choji.

"You gave up all ready, Shikamaru?" Shikamaru looked up to see Choji walking towards him.

"There was uneven numbers."

"Lier, i saw there was an even number, unless someone else quit or was kicked out"

"Sakura was chased off again" he explained.

"Again?" Choji asked. Shikamaru nodded.

"I feel kinda sorry for her, I mean, she doesn't have any friends and everybody is always creeped out around her." Shikamaru sat up and looked at Choji,

"What are we supposed to do about it?"

"I don't know, maybe if someone was kind to her, maybe she wouldn't creep people out as much." He popped his chip bag.

"I better get going, dad said something about a trip," he waved to Shikamaru as he walked to the stairs

"See you later." Shikamaru starred at the sky. For some reason he couldn't focus on the clouds. He sighed. Choji had away of putting things that compelled Shikamaru to move of his own accord. He would say something and then leave him alone to think about it and sure enough, within minutes Shikamaru would be on his way with a purpose. These occurrences happened rarely and when it did happen it would often scare his family and friends. He walked past his dad, actually make purposeful steps, instead of his normal plodding. His dad had come and found him, intending to tow him home. He went to pull him along, when he saw his face. He had seen his son serious only a few times before and first that had stood out was when he saw it before he sat with his dieing sister.

_::Flashback::_

_ Shikato starred at the medic, praying that everything she had said was a part of a big joke. He went in to see his daughter and felt the urge to cry. She was covered in blood, she had several IVs hanging around her hospital bed. She painfully turned her head towards him and gave him a sad smile _

"_Guess i should've stayed on the farm eh?" he blinked back tears. He had tried to get her to quit being a ninja many times, even though she was becoming one of the most promising student in a long while, she had graduated from the academy at age 7, became a joinin at age 13. She joined the ANBU squad at 15. _

_She laughed a little, "Come on dad wheres that famous come back?" she coughed and a line of blood trickled out of her mouth. He felt a tear trickle down his cheek. It didn't escape her notice, she tried to laugh but made a garbled cry instead. _

_A tear trickled down her cheek "Can I see mom before I go?" He didn't have to ask where she was going. As if on que, in walked Yoshino. She cried silently._

_Shikana laughed again, "You were right, all that rushing finally caught up with me" this only sent her further into tears. _

_ Shikato ushered his wife out of the hospital room. He walked her down the hall and saw the last person he wanted to see. A five year old Shikamaru was marching down the hall. Shikato reached out to grab his sons shoulder, wanting him to see the sight in the emergence room. He froze as he saw his sons eyes. They seemed to stare right through him, daring him to try and stop him, not something you want to see in a five year olds eyes. To top it off Shikamaru never looked like he ever had anything important to take care of, he usually was a pain in the neck to get to do any thing. Now he looked like he would murder anyone who got in his way. Shikato watched with worried eyes as his son walked past him and into the room. A few minutes later he heard the flat tone beep that could only mean one thing. Shikana had passed on. A minute later Shikamaru emerged from the room eyes slightly swollen but still determined. He walked past his parents, not once looking at them. All they could do was watch him go by and pray that he would be okay._

_::Flashback end::_

The second time had been when Choji had broken his leg while he and Shikamaru had gone out for a while, and Shikamaru had burst into their living room like the hounds of hell had been chasing him. He had run up grabbed Shikato's hand an d proceeded to drag him to the spot that Choji had fallen. He had seen that look a few more times but at less drastic times, once when he decided to actually try on a test. Another time had been when some kids had been picking on Choji and Shikamaru had come to his friends defense. The serious look on his face had been enough to shut them up. So all in all, a serious Shikamaru was a scary Shikamaru. Shikato only hoped that whatever was on his sons mind wasn't a serious as it had been in the past. Shikato wondered for a moment how someone at such a young age could be so old at the same time. Shikato sighed and walked slowly to his home. He had the beginnings of a migraine and he had a feeling it was going to get worse.

Shikamaru soon found the pink haired kunochi on his favorite cloud watching hill. He stood there nervous of going up and talking with the outcast. He hated it when Choji set him up like this. Well you really couldn't call it setting him up, all Choji would do was say a few seemingly meaningless things and there he was, something on his normally carefree mind and it wouldn't stop bugging him until he did something about it. He sighed. There wasn't anything else to do any way, so he trudged up the hill and stopped when he was a few feet away. She looked up at him an annoyed expression on her face, as if he had just interrupted something important.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

He had no idea of what to say, so he simply said "your in my spot," which in truth it was his spot. He often came here to watch the clouds and try to ignore his parents.

"What?"

"Your in my spot" he repeated. She was confused, he wasn't going to yell or laugh at her?

"Aren't you going to move?" Sakura's face became angry.

He wasn't going to yell or laugh, but he wanted her away all the same. She got up and began to stomp angerly away.

"I didn't say you had to leave." the boy called after her. She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

"I just wanted you to move over, so I could sit down." she was _really_ confused now. He wasn't yelling at her and was even inviting her to sit with him. She hesitantly walked back over to where he was sitting and sat down carefully, half expecting some sort of trick. When nothing happened she relaxed a little. Through this Shikamaru had watched her, wondering why she was so nervous. He answered his own question, remembering the cold and mocking stares the other kids sent her way. 'well that could anyone afraid of people' he though as he flopped backwards to stare at the sky. The nagging feeling was gone, and he felt no reason to wast time starring at something other than clouds

Sakura starred at him for a moment be fore asking "what are you doing?"

"Watching the clouds" he stated simply.

"Why?" he looked over at her. She was interested now and had no intentions of letting him watch the cloud in peace.

He sighed and answered "because they are free and do what ever they want, with no worries or responsibility." She starred at him for a few moments. _Long moments_, Shikamaru thought.

"Not really" she said suddenly. "What?" now it was his turn to be confused.

"The clouds aren't as carefree as you think." he looked at her strangely. _'What do clouds do other than drift along?'_ She was starring at the sky now. I she didn't finish saying what she meant, he just might blow a circuit. No matter how he looked at it he couldn't see where she was going with this.

She finally spoke "clouds are pushed along by the wind. They have the responsibility of carrying the rain and to provide shade from the sun. they don't choose the breeze they are pushed by. They are simply caught by the wind and pulled along, whether they wished to stay or not."

Shikamaru starred at her. He never would have thought it through that far.

"Why" he began, before stopping, he didn't really know what he was trying to ask. She seemed intelligent, so why did she case others away from her. 'Well here goes nothing' "Why do you stay by yourself all the time?" he asked and waited, now sitting up and looking at her, clouds all but forgotten.

She thought for a moment before answering "I'm not alone, not really." Shikamaru got even more confused, if that was even possible.

"what do you mean?" Shikamaru was beginning to hate having to ask what so many times.

"There everywhere, cant you see them?" she looked directly at Shikamaru now. Taking in his still clueless look, she almost cried

"Why" she said more than asked "why can't anybody see them but me? There always there, trying to talk and show things to people, but no one listens, why?" she was angry now."why why why!!!"

Shikamaru was beginning to wonder if she _was_ insane, when her head snapped around and looked at something invisible. She sighed and seemed to calm down. She looked at him again.

"You ignore them too," she said softly. He looked at her still confused and beginning to wonder if he should try run from this girl.

"Who is 'them'" he asked. All though he was becoming increasingly disturbed by her, he wanted to understand what she was talking about.

"You can't see them," she murmered softly, almost to herself. "But why?"

he was on the verge of yelling, as she started to stare at the sky again. An evil voice in his head said

**'Now you know how other people feel when you ignore the world for clouds'**

'shut up' he yelled inside his head before he realized that he was yelling at himself. He put a hand to his head and began to wonder if insanity was contagious.

**'Not that it would have made a difference, I've been here the whole time'**

'Shut up!!"

**'make me!'**

His attention was shifted back to the infuriating girl, as she claped a hand to her ear, as if some one had yelled in it.

"Okay okay!!!" she yelled "I'll tell him!!!" 

Shikamaru proceeded to stare at her as she turned towards him.

She inhaled deeply before "WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?!?!"

Shikamarus' eyes nearly popped out of his head. Her voice was different, like someone else was speaking with her, and on top of that, what was spewing from her throught was almost familar.

"You have been wasting waaaay to much time gawking at clouds and screwing around! And where is the necklace I gave you?! I've been trying to talk to you and you, being you clueless self, couldn't hear me. God, if I wasn't dead I would smack you into next week!! I had to go off and find a haruno just so I could get you r attention!! now you'd better god damned well better go and get that neckalace before I find someway to make you life miserable!!!" she finally stopped and took a breath.

Shikamaru was starring at her, his jaw nearly on the ground. She had just yelled out...something and it was surprisingly familiar. Taking a minute to put pieces together. And suddenly he figured it out. The reason the voice was almost familar. There was only one person he knew that could come up with a speech like that. His sister. Adding that piece to the puzzle it hit him.

Sakura was always off on her own because she could see the dead.

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Yay! my first chapter done! I'll try to update, but first you have to reveiw, so please click the magic button and tell me what you think!


	2. Explainations and a bit of friendship

Yay!!! I updated, It took a while but I did it!!! I've decided I have no talent what so ever in french.

Please read and review!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sakura or Shikamaru, or anyother kick ass charachter glares

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About seventeen different questions ran through Shikamaru's head at once, and in an attempt to ask them all, he made several garbled noises, earning a strange look from Sakura.

"What?" she asked with a bemused expression.

Shikamaru caught his breath after choking on his questions and began.

"Howcanyouspeaktothedead?andhowcanyouseemysisterandhowwouldshebeabletotalktomewithherneckalacean-" Sakura cut him off, laughing. This was the first time she had ever really had fun. Most of the time people would have run off before this.

"Try spacing out the words and I'll see if I'm interested in answering" she told him, still laughing.

Shikamaru took a deep breath and tried going with one question at a time.

"How can you see the dead?" She looked at him curiously before answering.

"I don't know, for a while I thought everyone could see them, but just ignored them. How did you figure out that I can?"

"I just put the pieces together" he answered quickly before firing another question. "How can you see my sis and why would she be able to talk to me through her necklace?"

"1) she's dead, 2) I'm not sure, but there are ways to fuse some sort of connection to some one through some object, so when a person dies, a sensei for example, could continue teaching his students, even after death."

"Really?"

"That's what I just said"

"So, your saying she could have fused some of her chakra or something to her necklace so she could still talk to me?"

"Yeah"

"If someone just picked it up, would sis be able to talk to them?"

"No, there has to be a connection to a certain person, and from what your sister has told me, you're the only one who would be able to talk to her with it."

Shikamaru stopped and thought for a moment. He thought of the last time her saw his sister.

_::Flashback::_

_Shikamaru had heard from her team mates that they had been ambushed and his sis had been hurt badly. The moment he caught wind of what happened, he ran all the way to the hospital. He charged down the hallway before a nurse caught him and told him to walk. He complied, walking quickly down the hallways, hoping no one else would try to stop him. He saw his mom and dad walk out of one of the rooms and immediately made a bee line for the door. His father reached a hand towards his and froze and Shikamaru could feel his eyes following his every move. He pushed open the door and had to try and calm his stomach. He had never smelt or seen much blood before; in fact, the worst he had seen had been when his father had cut his arm while trying to help with dinner. Needless to say, he was banned from the kitchen for a while. He looked at his sister and felt tears burn in his eyes. She was a bloody mess, and had many IV's and wires hanging off her. A trickle of blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth. She turned her head and saw him._

"_Come here Shika," she croaked, using her nickname for him._

_He approached shakily, not wanting to move. She looked fragile, not the tower of strength he remembered._

"_Hurry up, Shika, I've got something to give to ya, and I don't have much time left."_

_He was at her side now. She reached into one of her many pockets and produced her good luck pendant, which she had received from their parents when she had been accepted into the ANBU squad. She held it in front of his face._

"_I want you to keep this with you all the time, okay? As long as you have it, I promise, I'll be with you" she began to cough harshly. _

_She reached out and touched his forehead. Shikamaru was blinded by a flash of light and ended up on his backside trying to clear his eyes when he head the one sound he never wanted to hear as his sister whispered._

"_Bye-bye Shika, make me proud" as the heart monitor let out a dull flat beep._

_Shikamaru broke down in tears and cried for a while before he wiped his eyes and picked up his sisters pendant. He would make his sister proud. He slowly walked to the door. He gave his sister one last look before nurses rushed in. He pushed past them and saw his father still standing there. Shikamaru walked past him, determined to keep from breaking down in front of everyone. He succeeded until he made it to his room, before crying himself to sleep._

_::End Flashback::_

**'You know, he kind cute when he's lost in thought'**

Sakura groaned inwardly.

'Great, your back'

**'I never left.'**

'Shut up'

'**Nyha' sticking out tongue**

Sakura copied Shikamaru's motion and also put her head in her hands. She had thought she had broken herself of talking to herself, but apparently, it wasn't going to be that easy. She looked back at Shikamaru. He was probably never going to talk to her again, but then he had stayed with her for this long, and had seemed to be curious about her gift, or condition, whatever way you wanted to look at it. She could at least try to be friendly.

"Uhhhh…" she didn't have a clue what she was going to say.

He looked at her, the same clueless look on his face.

"Yeah. Uhhh…." They sat there for a couple of minutes, neither one of them having anything to say, or at least they didn't know how to say it.

"Ummm.. Do you still have your sister's necklace?" she finally asked, wincing slightly at how stupid she sounded.

He looked relived that she had broken the silence.

"Yeah, it's at home in my room, I used to wear it all the time, I stopped once I was enrolled in the academy."

"Why?"

"I guess I just got tired of wearing it, and a lot of people wouldn't leave me alone about it."

"So you took it off and forgot wear you put it"

Shikamaru winced. She hit the nail on the head. He had taken it off one night and he forgot wear it was. Now he could remember, a half a year later. Ironic, really. And the whole time he could have talked with his sister. But one thing was bugging him, why hadn't she talked to him before? Well, now was the perfect time to find out. He tilted his head back, still wanting to get some cloud gazing in. he sighed and turned back to Sakura. She might have been silent, but the way she was trying to burn holes into his back was far more distracting.

"Do you know why sis never tried to talk to me before I lost her necklace?"

Sakura paused for a minute, listening to something invisible.

"She says she did, but you always shrugged it off as you imagination."

Well you couldn't really blame him. Hearing the voice of his beloved sister after she was dead and especially after he told his parents after the first time he heard it, they said he needed to stop talking like that, it wasn't funny. He decided that he was just hearing things because after all, no one else could hear her. He looked at Sakura, she must have felt like that several times, but somehow she was able to keep believing that she wasn't insane. He gave her credit for that.

A sudden crash of thunder made them both jump. They both leaped to their feet.

"Aww, man. My house is on the other side of the village." Sakura groaned.

"You could stay at my house until the rain stops." Shikamaru offered.

She looked startled for a moment the grinned.

"Thanks"

They took off down the hill as the rain poured down. A few minutes later they arrived at Shikamaru's house, soaked through. Immediately Shikamaru's mother was upon them scolding about running around in the pouring rain before she realized that Sakura was there. When she did she stopped and starred for a minute. Then she squealed.

"Ahhh! My little Shika-kun has a girl friend!!"

Shikamaru and Sakura rolled their eyes in unison.

"Mom, this is Sakura-san, I _just_ met her. It started raining, and she lives across the village, so I offered her a place to stay until the rain stopped."

Shikamaru explained, rolling his eyes again. Sakura nodded to confirm his story.

"Awwww... Are you being shy?" she cooed. They rolled their eyes again (lot of attitude for 7 year old huh). "Let me get you some towels'" and with that she waltzed away. Shikamaru sighed.

"Well that was my mother, if you hadn't guessed. My dad is probably around here somewhere."

Sakura nodded in understanding as she looked around the room. It was obviously a living area. With several comfortable looking chairs and a couch, a stack of books was on the floor, and a shogi board was on a low table. She looked over at Shikamaru.

"You any good at it?" she asked, jerking her chin in the direction of the board. Shikamaru nodded.

"You wanna play?" he asked, wondering if he actually found someone to play against who wouldn't whine like Choji or Kiba. She nodded. He smiled a little and sat next to the board, wet clothes forgotten. Sakura sat across from him, also forgetting she was soaked. Shikamaru set the board and they began to play. They set their pieces down with a steady stream of clacks until Shikamaru's mother screech knocked both of them out of their concentration. Both jumping they turned toward the fuming woman, somewhere in the process knocking over the pieces of the board. She had two towels' in her hands and was currently trying to kill them with her glare.

"I TOLD YOU THAT I WAS GETTING YOU TOWELS!!!" she screamed.

Hearing his wife's scream, Shikato ran into the room to see two dripping wet 7 year olds and his fuming wife. Quickly assessing the situation, he went over to his wife and pulled the towels out of her hands and then quickly yanked the two kids to their feet and dragged them into the next room. He dropped a towel on to each of their heads before taking a breath to scold.

"Shikamaru, you know how your mother gets when you get the furniture wet, you should have waited until she had come back with the towels" Shikato began, trying to look stern, but wasn't too successful in that category, being only slightly less lazy than his son (Shikamaru had to get it from somewhere). Both of the kids just looked at him. Shikato sighed.

"You could at least go up and say your sorry you two." Then he realized it. They had a visitor. He examined Sakura closely. The girl had pink hair, the colors of cherry blossoms. Her eyes were an emerald green, which at this moment were staring up at him with obvious boredom. Both of them were. He sighed again. It looked like his son had found a new friend who had much the same attitude as he.

"Just go before your mother blows a circuit" he said exasperatedly while pointing at the door. Shikamaru went out the door while Sakura stood there, unsure of what to do. She looked at Shikato expectantly, after all he was a parent, they always had something for kids to do. Shikato just looked right back at her.

"Whats your name?" he asked her.

"Haruno Sakura" she replied.

Shikato blinked. _'Haruno?' _he wondered if that was really her name. The Harunos were supposedly wiped out.

"Hmmm...Whats your parents names?" he questioned further.

_'What a nosy guy' _Sakura thought but answered anyway/

"Akio is my Fathers name and my Mothers name is Gina"

Shikato studied the girl. Those were not Haruno names. Harunos were always named after flowers and plants. He knew this because when he was younger his best friend had been a Haruno, and he had lost count on how many times he had heard the stories behind the flower namesAs he examined her she just stared at him. Finally, she said,

"Have you finished with your analysis?"

This brought him back from his thoughts and he stared at the girl.

"What?" (playing the part of the stupid adult)

"I asked if you had finished you analysis yet"

He stared at the girl some more. Yes, an attitude just like Shikamarus. But he was still curious as to whether she was really a Haruno or not. He decided to try and find out.

"Do you know who your grandparents are?"

"No, mom and dad don't have any pictures, why?"

"Well, a friend of mine was a Haruno, and her parents were always kind to me, but I haven't seen any of them since a few years ago. I was just curious to whether they were still around or not."

Sakura wasn't a fool. She knew he was trying to find something. What that was she hadn't a clue. Though, now that this guy had brought it up, she wasn't so sure why she had never met her relations. In fact, her parents never even brought it up. All the kids at school would talk about their cousins and aunts, etc. etc.

"Do _you _know what happened to my family?" she asked the staring man.

"Unfortunately, yes but if you don't know I'd rather not be the one to tell you."

She looked up at him then nodded slowly. There were other ways to find things out other than questioning a lazy chunin. She walked to the other room, hoping that Shikamarus mother was done ranting. She came in to see Shikamaru sitting at the table and his mother on the other side of the room muttering about sloppy children. Shikamaru looked up as she entered the room. He gestured to the board and she nodded. They spent the rest of the storm playing and when it was finally over, Shikato insisted on taking Sakura home.

"I'd feel guilty about sending a little girl home late at night after a rain storm"he explained.

So off they went with Shikamaru waving good-bye at the door way. He wondered if what she had said about his sisters pendant was true. Well there was only one way to find out. He headed up to his room and dig out the box he had placed it in. After about an hour and several sneezing fits later, he had finally dug it out, though he was covered in a layer of dust, the moisture of the rain not helping his cause. He pried open the small cardboard box and carefully removed the pendant. Somehow it managed to stay undamaged in the half a year that it had been thrown around in the black-hole he called a room. He stared at the pendant for a minute before slipping it over his head. For a moment nothing happened, then his sister popped out of thin air making him yelp in surprise. His sisters face hadn't changed a bit. She had the same wicked smile that promised trouble, but it would be fun. Her hair was in the style it always was, most of it pulled back, with a few random strands purposely pulled out of the bunch and dangling around her face. Her eyes were still the same chocolate color as his own, except hers always showed interest or amusement at something, where as his usually showed nothing but boredom. He wondered why he was so surprised by seeing her completely unchanged, maybe he had thought that death would have completely changed her. If not for the ethereal look of her, she could have just come home from a mission.

"Well little bro, I think this going to work a little better than me yelling through a Haruno." She had an amused smile across her face. All Shikamaru could do was stare (what would do if your dead sister was standing in front of you, even if you were expecting it?).

"Come on Shika, all you can do after two years is stare?" she laughed "you haven't changed a bit."

He sat there for a minute before saying "Sakura wasn't lying" he said almost to himself.

"Well duh, you baka! She might be young but she _is_ a Haruno."

Still just a numb response. It still hadn't completely sunk in.

(Just wait a minute. . . . Ah-ah, there it is!)

Shikamaru sat down hard. Still absorbing, but it had hit him. He still stared, but at least he had gotten rid of the blank expression.

"S-s-so I can see you but no one else but Sakura?" he managed to ask.

She nodded her head. Her little brother wasn't usually this thick. Then the logical Shikamaru finally took over. He though it through it and pieced it together. His sister had put a jutsu on her pendant so she could still be with him when she died.

"Why did you only make something like this for me" he asked.

"Cause mom and dad don't need my help, you do or at least will" she sighed "Besides, how else was I supposed to teach you techniques if were not able to communicate, besides, I don't feel like crossing over yet, to troublesome" (And now we know where Shikamaru's infamous line came from!). Shaking her head Shikana prepared for a long explanation when Shikamarus voice brought her back to the living (bad pun).

"Okay now thats over. I think I'm going to bed now" seemingly perfectly calm.

'perhaps I should be questioning my sanity' he thought.

**'Well duh, you just had a conversation with a dead person'**

'Ahhhh! You go away!'

**'I can't go away, I'm you'**

'Shut up!'

**sigh 'your yelling at yourself again'**

'I'm officially ending this conversation'

**'then that would mean your going to stop talking to your self'**

**'Aren't you going to answer?'**

**'Hey, I'm talking to you!'**

'You should really stop talking to yourself, its supposedly a sign of insanity'

**'Whaa- Hey! I'm not talking to you any more!'**

'I'm heart broken'

**'Nyha' sticks tongue out**

sigh 'Now your making faces at yourself'

**'good-night'**

Shikamaru grinned at turning the tables on what he was dubbing his inner self. Which in turn he really turned the tables on himself, and he was just going to confuse himself even more, so he decided that bed was a good idea and quickly changed into a pair of pajamas and curled up in his blankets, for the moment ignoring everything that happened, muttering a good-night towards his spectral sister, and missed his mothers calls for dinner, already asleep.

Shikana watched a number of facial expressions cross over Skikamaru's face before it settled in a crooked grin, then looking slightly content changed into pajamas and curled up in a pile of blankets and muttering a good-night in her general direction. Their mother called up for dinner. After yelling up the stairs several times, she stormed up the stairs already forming a lecture, when she saw him asleep. She smiled softly and quietly shut the door and crept back down the stairs. Shikana laughed softly to her self. It was good to be home.

Sakura smiled a little as she made her way home with her escort. She just might have made her first friend. Well she could pray. She smiled a little wider when she heard Shikanas voice

"_You've got a good chance for that"_

Shikato looked at the girl beside him, wondering what she was thinking. He also wondered if she was truly a Haruno, bloodline and all or just a child who might have been some distant relation. _'Well, either way, this has been sightly interesting'_ he was never one to let any experience go to wast, pointless or not. They soon arrived at the Haruno residence, or what Sakura said was her house, Shikato guessed that either this was not a real Haruno, or the clan had been wiped out to the point, that the grounds they once lived on, were far to big.

The door opened to reveal a woman with dark brown hair in a dark blue skirt and a dark green blouse. Shikato could immediately tell that this woman was not a Haruno, all of them had the dead give away hair.

"Sakura!!!" the woman cried "I was so worried, where were you?" she asked, evidently wanting an answer. Sakura just looked up at the woman, no trace of any emotion on her face. Shikato couldn't help but wonder how a seven year old could treat her mother that way. The womans lip trembled before she noticed Shikato standing there.

"Oh! How rude of me, I'm Gina, Sakura's mother" she said, extending her hand. Shikato took it and shook.

"A pleasure, Shikato Nara."

She kept a smile on, but he could tell that she didn't want him there. She began to tug Sakura threw the door. Calling over her shoulder she said,

"Thank you for bringing her home," she looked down at Sakura. "I want you to go get cleaned up and into bed." she nearly sternly ordered.

As Sakura did as she was told, thumping up the stairs, she paused and looked at Shikato, _"Thank you," _She mouthed. He gave the shallowest of nods to show her understood her, but not to attract attention to it. The woman turned back to Shikato.

"Thank you for returning, she has a tendency to wander off." She still had the smile that said _"I'm only going to pretend I like you"_ written all over it. She kept smiling, obviously waiting for him to leave. He put all the pieces together. He studied the woman then looked at the stairs that Sakura had disappeaerd up. He returned his calculative look back at her.

He chuckled a bit at his own foolishness for not getting it earlier. Her smile became more forced. He looked her strait in the eye.

"Your not here real parents are you?" she flinched.

"I think you need to leave now." she said before slamming the door in his face.

He was still smiling, pleased with what he had found out. But the question remained of why the hokage had placed her in a family with out a single person successfully completing their training. Well that was a question for tomorrow, he had to speak with lord Hokage anyway. He chuckled as he lept from rooftop to rooftop home.

Gina slammed the door shut. She prayed that Sakura hadn't heard the man. It had been hard enough to fool her after that drunken bastard opened his mouth a bit to far.

Unknown to the shaking woman, a pink haired girl sat on the stairs, just out of sight, with the smallest of smiles on her face. Now she could confirm her suspicions. The drunkard had made her wonder, the foolish boy had made her wary, the pictures made her suspicious, this man had confirmed it for her. Still smiling she quietly slipped up to her room and curled up in her bed.

**_MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM_**

There, its finished.

I hope youv'e enjoyed, I think I enjoyed writing it, but I'm not sure yet.

Anyway please review, all comments are accepted, even flames.


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